Time controlled latch mechanism for an incinerator



Nov. 15, 1960 R. A. CLARK 2,960,046

TIME CONTROLLED LATCH MECHANISM FOR AN INCINERATOR Filed Dec. 12, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

I ROBERT -A. CLARK \K BY 2 Z W ATTORNEY Nov. 15, 1960 R. A. CLARK 2,960,046

TIME CONTROLLED LATCH MECHANISM FOR AN INCINERATOR Filed Dec. 12, 195s s Sheets-Sheet 2 l0 u a2 /'8? 84 9 92 89 88 88 l s Q qLZ' FIG. 5

INVENTOR. 95 ROBERT A. CLARK ATTORNEY R. A. CLARK Nov. 15, 1960 TIME CONTROLLED LATCH MECHANISM FOR AN INCINERATOR Filed Dec. 12, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ROBERT A. CLARK BY ATTORNEY United States TllVIE CONTROLLED LATCH NIECHANISM FOR AN INCINERATOR Filed Dec. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 779,907

Claims. Cl. 110-18) This invention relates to an incinerator of the type which is used for burning mixed refuse and which includes a combustion chamber, a burner in said chamber, an upper charging door for admitting the refuse to be burnt, and a lower drawer for receiving ashes.

The refuse burned in incinerators of this type may include wet, and more or less greasy materials, such as table scraps and garbage, the reduction of which generates acrid fumes and greasy soot and smoke which will cause considerable damage and inconvenience if the door of the incinerator is opened before the contents of the incinerator have been reduced to embers or to ashes. Also, if the charging door is opened while dry refuse is being consumed, a very large flame may result which can cause considerable personal injury.

It is, therefore, one object of the invention to produce an improved incinerator which is so constructed that the burner cannot be turned on except when the charging door is closed and so that the door cannot be opened except when the burner is turned ofi.

In order further to insure safety, the burner is provided with a time control so that, once it is turned on, the burner cannot be turned ofi until a period of time sufiicient to insure reduction of the refuse has elapsed.

A still further object of the invention is to produce an improved construction in which the charging door and the ash receiving drawer are so inter-related that, locking the charging door automatically locks the ash receiving drawer, and vice versa.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing only the portions of an incinerator to which the invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the position of the parts when the door is closed.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the lower left hand portion of the incinerator of Fig. 1, showing how the ash drawer is locked when the charging door is locked.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 2 but shows the position of the parts when the door is opened.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 3 and shows how the ash drawer is unlocked when the charging door is unlocked.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are enlarged, fragmentary, perspective views showing details of construction.

The incinerator diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1 includes a vertical combustion chamber, a gas burner disposed in said chamber and supplied with gas by means of a pipe, not shown, which leads to opening 10. The flow of gas to the burner is regulated by a timing mechanism in casing 11. Because the combustion chamber, the gas burner, and the timing mechanism are conventional and are not claimed as part of this invention, their structure is not shown nor described. It is sufiicient to say that turning knob 12 and associated disc 13 in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, winds the timing atent O 2,960,046 Patented Nov. 15, 1960 mechanism; that complete winding of the timing mechanism must take place before gas will be supplied to the burner; that complete unwinding of the timing mech anism must take place before the gas will be cut ofl from the burner, and that complete unwinding of the clock mechanism requires a period of time sufiicient to insure reduction of the contents of the combustion chamber to an extent to permit opening of the charging door with safety.

The incinerator is provided with a top charging door 14 which is hinged to open in counterclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 4, and which, in the position of Figs. 1 and 2, closes a charging opening formed in the superstructure in the top 18 of the incinerator. In the bottom of the combustion chamber is a grate 20 which is shown in Fig. 1.

The charging door locking and unlocking mechanism forming part of the present invention includes a bracket 22 which, as best shown in Fig. 8, is formed of horizontal Wings 24 and vertical side wall 26 and is secured to the top 18 of the incinerator, as at 28, and to the top of the time control mechanism casing 11, as at 30, to secure the time control mechanism, Figs. 1 and 4, to the incinerator. Bracket 22 is provided with spaced lugs 32, 34, which have registering openings 36 through which freely slides locking pin 38. The central portion of bracket 22 is provided with an opening 41 for the passage of a yoke 40 which engages the right hand end of trunnion 42 on locking pin 38. Yoke 40 is formed at the upper end of a lever 44 which passes through an opening 46, Fig. 1, in casing 11 and is pivoted, as at 48, to a side wall of said casing. The lower end of lever 44 is extended to form a thin neck portion 50 which carries an operating knob 52. Bracket 22 also carries upstanding lug 54 which has an opening 56 Which registers with a hole 58 in the front wall 60 of door 14. Lug 54 has pivoted to it, as at 61, a lever 62 which is weighted so that, if unrestrained, it will rotate in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1 in which the portion 63 of lever 62 that is, the portion thereof to the right of pivot 61 covers hole 56 in lug 54 and prevents locking pin 38 from entering hole 58 in the front wall 60 of the door. See Fig. 7. Lever 62 is provided with an ear 64 which is disposed in the path of movement of door 14 so that, when the door is lowered to closing position, ear 64 is engaged by door portion 62 and lever 62 is rotated in counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, to move portion 63 thereof out of registration with hole 56 and permit movement of the locking pin through this hole into hole 58 to lock the door in its lower closed position.

Since locking pin 38 can only be withdrawn from engagement with the door by rotation of lever 44 in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, it follows that, preventing rotation of lever 44 will prevent unlocking of the door. To this end, lever 44 is so arranged that its neck portion 50 will ride on the periphery of disc 13, in which position lever 44, as a whole, is rocked in counterclockwise direction to an extent sufiicient to move pin 38 into, and to keep it in, hole 58 to keep the door locked. See Fig. 6. When the timing mechanism is fully unwound, and the supply of gas to the burner has been shut off, slot 70, in the periphery of disc 13, will reach the position of Fig. 7 in which the neck 50 of lever 44 drops in slot 70 and permits rotation of lever 44 in clockwise direction. to withdraw locking pin 38 from holes 56 and 58. This not only permits the opening of the door 14, but it also permits lever 62 to rotate back to the position of Fig. 7 as soon as pin 38 is withdrawn so as to prevent movement of the locking pin through opening 56 and into opening 58 in the door. As previously pointed out, complete winding of the timing mechanism is required to supply gas to the burner and complete unwinding of the timing mechanism must-take place before the gas supply to the burner is shut oif. For example, if-itis determined that it takes two hours of combustion to reduce a load of refuse, the timing mechanism will be so set that no gas will reach the burner unless the timing mechanismiswound to run for two hours.- to supply gas to the burner-unless the timing mechanism is Wound to run for a period of-two hours and, therefore, the door cannot be opened before the two hours needed for consuming the refuse have elapsed. It will be understood that, once the gas is turned on by the complete winding of the timing mechanism, it can only be shut off by the complete unwinding of the time mechanism which takes place just as neck 50 of lever 54 enters slot 70. In other words, it is impossible to supply gasto the burner and then open the door before the time needed for complete combustion of the material to beburned has taken place.

The means for interlocking the charging door 1 4=with the ash receiving drawer 72 includes shaft 74 one end of which is secured to link 76 and is journalled'in a hole 75 in a side wall 26 of bracket 22 and the other end of which passes through hole 77 in bracket'78 and carries lever 80 which carries rod 82. The upper end of link 76 is forked and engages the other end of trunnion 42 on locking pin 38, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The lower end of rod 82 is connected to one of two bell cranks 84 each of which is pivoted at 85 toa strap 87 and carries angle piece 86. Pivoted to a strap 89, as at 90, is a lever 92 which is weighted so that it tends to rotate in counterclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. l, and which is notched as at 94.

As will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, when charging door 14 is closed, link 80 will be in a substantially vertical position in which angle piece 86 rides on the upper edge of ash drawer 72 and locks it in the closed position. Also, when the ash drawer is closed, its front wall engages tab 95 which is carried by arm 92 and rotates arm 92 to move its upper end out of the path of movement of angle piece 86, or from the position shown in Fig. to the position shown in Fig. 3. When charging door 14 is opened, link 80 moves to the position of Fig. 4 in which angle piece 86 is moved out of engagement with the upper edge of the front wall of ash drawer 72, which can now be pulled out for emptying. It will be noted that, as soon as angle piece 86 is raised, lever 92 automatically swings from the position ofFig. 3 to the position of Fig. 5 in which it will be in a position to retain angle piece $6 out of engagement with the upper edge of the drawer until the ash drawer is pushed back into the position of Figs. 1 and 3 and until charging door 14 is again closed and locked.

The timing mechanism in casing 11 is purchased, as a unit from Erie Manufacturing Company of 400 South 13th Street,, Milwaukee 15, Wisconsin, and its structure and operation are disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,556,908.

What I claim is:

1. An incinerator having a charging opening, a door, means hinging the door for movement to a first position in which the door closes said charging opening and to a second position in which said charging opening is not obstructed, a locking pin, there being a hole in said door engageable by said pin, an actuating lever operatively This makes it impossibleconnected to said pin, pivot means mounting said lever 6,5

for movement to a first position in which it moves said pin into engagement with said hole, and said door is locked in its first position, and to a second position in which it withdraws said pin from said hole and said door can be moved to its second position, and obstructing means located between said hole and said pin and operative to prevent movement of said pin into engagement with said hole unless the door isin its first position.

2. The structurerecited in claim 1 inwhich said ohstrutcing means is a plate pivotally mounted between said locking pin and said charging opening and movable to a first position in which it covers said hole, and to a second position in which-said hole is uncovered, said plate having an extension disposed in the path of movement of said door whereby movement of said door to its first position engages said extension and rotates said plate to its second position, said plate beingso arranged that, when unrestrained, it moves to its first position automatically.

3. The structure recited in claim 1 anda time controlled device for locking said lever in itsfirst position for a predetermined length of time, said device including a rotary disc the periphery of which is engageable with the other end of said lever, said disc and said lever being so related that, when theother. end of said lever engages said periphery, said lever will be moved to and be locked in its first position, there being a recess formed in the periphery of said disc for receiving said other end of said lever, the depth of said recess being such that entry of said other end of said lever into said recess moves said lever to its second position;

4. The structure recited in claim 1. in which said incinerator also includes a lower drawer for receiving ashes and coordinate means forlocking said drawer when said door is locked and vice versa, said coordinate means including a shaft operatively connected to said lever and rotatable about its axis with the rotation of. said lever, a link at one end of said shaft, a rod depending from said link and movable to an upper position when said shaft is rotated in one direction and to a lower position when said shaft is rotated in the opposite direction, and locking means carried by the lowerend of said rod and movable downwardly with said rod to a first position in registration with said drawer to prevent withdrawal thereof, said locking means being movable to a second position in which it is out of registration with said door when said rod is moved to its upper position, whereby said drawer may be withdrawn.

5. The structure recited in claim 4' and a pivoted arm near one side of said drawer and movable to a first position in which it engages said locking means and prevents downward movement of said rod as long as said door'is unlocked, and to a second position in which it is out of engagement with said locking means whereby said rod and said locking means can be moved to their first position.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,330,693 Fisher Feb. 10, 1920 2,294,505 Lindblad Sept. 1, 1942 2,570,390 Schuldt Oct. 9, 1951 2,783,723 Loewenthal et-al. Mar. 5,- 1957 2,838,016 Sharpe June 10, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 876,530 France Nov. 9, 1942 

